Help, please!

[Guest guest]

Dear Group,

 

A friend has written this summary of a difficult medical situation, and needs

our help. Any ideas??? (Washington is my friend's husband.)

 

" During the early morning hours of Thursday, February 27, 2003, Washington

woke up in the middle of the night after experiencing an intense roving pain

like his " muscles were going to pop out of his body " and pain with an intense

tingling sensation. The next day he came home from work and asked me to take

him

to the emergency room (he is a person who never complains about any illness.)

He said that he was feeling extreme weakness on his left side and that there

was numbness on the left side of his face.

 

On arrival at the emergency room, doctors worked under the assumption that he

had a stroke. He was given all of the routine tests for a stroke, as well as

a chest x-ray and EKG. All of the tests came back negative, however, they

admitted him to the hospital for observation. He was there for approximately

eight days and was given every neurological test imaginable. He was given an

EEG, muscle testing, more x-rays, etc. Still, everything came back negative.

 

Over the past year, he has seen three additional neurologists, been evaluated

by a hematologist and endocrinologist. He is also seeing a pain management

specialist who has prescribed Dilaudid. He also just recently saw another

hematologist.

 

Since the onset of this condition, he has experienced intense pain " episodes "

which last anywhere from 30 to 90 seconds. The last one he had on

Valentine's Day lasted approximately 10 minutes, the longest one to date. When

he was

in the hospital, he had these episodes on a continuing basis, however over the

last year they have become more infrequent. The pain has been just as intense

during the episodes, but he now has them on average, every couple of months.

 

As I am writing this, he just arrived home from work early, because he was

experiencing quite a bit of pain and stiffness today. Even though he is not in

constant pain, he is in a constant state of discomfort, usually stiffness.

 

He has been erroneously diagnosed with several diseases, including Multifocal

Motor Neuropathy and Polymyositis. He has been checked for Lupus and

Sarcoidosis, both of which run in his family, as well as Sickle-Cell Anemia -

again,

all negative. "

 

That is the short version - any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

Deb